Walk into the deepest stretch of the gorge

South of Tukuche the valley changes. We walk through Kobang and Larjung, Thakali villages with stone houses and narrow lanes, and the dry hills slowly give way to pine and juniper as the rain shadow weakens. The river runs in a wide gravel bed, and on clear days Dhaulagiri rises to the west and the Annapurna massif to the east, each more than 5,000 m above you. The air feels softer as you descend.

About 7 km below Tukuche the river passes directly between Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) and Annapurna I (8,091 m) at around 2,520 m. Measured from those summits down to the river, this stretch is often described as one of the deepest gorges in the world. The valley floor here is still a few kilometres wide, so the depth is something you feel from the mountains on either side rather than a narrow canyon.

We reach Kalopani or Lete in the afternoon, about 6–7 hours of walking with a gentle loss of height, and stay in a lodge there. From Kalopani, jeeps run back up to Jomsom or down to Beni and Pokhara. This walk suits travellers who want to see how the land changes from the dry trans-Himalaya to the green hills in a single day. Luggage goes ahead by jeep, so you carry only a daypack.